Posted on January 13, 2025

Weekly Update January 13, 2025

Weekly Update

Basketball – NBA: Lots of streaks broken including 2 wins streaks and 2 losing streaks.

Basketball – NCAAM: No upstes 3 days this week but Sat was big. NCAAW: there were a ton of great games this past week. not the case this upcoming week.

Football – NCAAF: CFP Semifinals were awesome! Natty is set for next Monday!

Football – NFL: Wild Card games not so wild.

Golf: Taylor wins in playoff fashion in HI. TGL makes its delayed debut.

Olympic Sports: Vonn’s gradually getting better. Another USA wins. Hosszu retires.

Tennis: AUS starts!

Basketball-NBA:

  • This week’s games:
    • After 9 straight wins, the Knicks lost to the Thunder last week. They went on a losing streak losing the next 4 of 5, only beating the Raptors. The Grizzlies beat the Mavs by 15 on Monday. The Kings and Heat have similar win records and not surprisingly they went to OT. It took 2 but the Kings get the W in OT.
    • The Mavs would bounce back to beat the Lakers the next day by 21. That ends Dallas’ 5 game losing streak. The Hawks were locked in a tough one with the Jazz until Trae Young’s clutch 50 foot 3-pointer.

    • The Thunder finally lose to break their win streak, which sat at 15. The Cavaliers played spoiler but really that wasn’t an upset as it was a bigtime matchup between the best teams in the NBA. It was a very even game with each Q being won by alternating teams. 3-pointers were the only stat that the Cavs beat OKC (41.7% vs 35.5%). The Cavs are now on a 13 game win streak.
    • Giannis put up with 41 points in their Friday game against the Magic. It was a close game but the Bucks get the 3 point win to upset the Magic at home.

    • The Kings won again on Sunday over the Bulls to get their win streak up to 7 straight. On the flip side of that, the Pacers played spoiler to the Cavs. The Cavs didn’t live up to their normal score by only racking up 93 points. That allowed the Pacers to beat them by 15 and end the Cavs win streak at 12. The Knicks got a big win over the Bucks, scoring 140 points. Brunson topped the week as the highest scorer with 44 points of his own. There were a couple of thrillers. The Pelicans took the Celtics to the final seconds. Jason Tatum had a 38 point game and they needed every single one of those points. Celtics win by 1. Then the Nets and Jazz went into OT and even that was back and forth. The Jazz for the 1 point edge with a contested and looked to be impossible layup to beat the Nets in Utah.
  • Super random but ESPN posted this earlier in the week, the numbers 74, 80, 82, 64 and 87 have never been worn in a single NBA game.

Basketball – NCAA:

  • NCAAM: No upsets on Monday, Thursday or Sunday.
    • Tues we had a big showdown in the SEC. #1 Tennessee did not play well, only scoring a total 43 points. #8 Florida gets the upsets in a big way by 30 points. That puts away the final undefeated team for the season. #24 Michigan put up 47 points in both halves to beat #22 UCLA by 19. Michigan’s Goldin put up 36 points on his own. #22 UCLA would also lose on Friday to unranked Maryland 79-61. #6 Kentucky had been on a roll last week but this week, they lost by 13 points to UGA who started with a 47 point 1H and that was enough.

    • #10 Texas A&M had a big week with 2 ranked matchups. The first was #17 Oklahoma on Wednesday. After trailing at halftime, the Aggies came back putting up 50 points to complete the come back and win by 2 over the Sooners. The 2nd big game for the Aggies was against #5 Alabama on Saturday. This time the Aggies got the worse end of the stick. Alabama put up 52 in the 1H when Texas A&M only scored 44 in both halves but would lose by 6. #9 UConn lost in a close low scoring one to unranked Villanova.
    • #17 Oklahoma would lose twice this week, once to the Aggies and once to unranked UGA. #6 Kentucky lost earlier in the week but they beat #14 Mississippi St by 5 on Saturday. #13 Illinois lost by 10 to USC.

  • Other storylines from Saturday: #3 Iowa State escaped an unranked upset by Texas Tech in OT – phew they would win by 1. Duke star Cooper Flagg put up 42 points in the Blue Devils win over ND. That destroys the ACC and Duke freshman scoring records. Duke would only win by 8 with that killer performance.

NCAAW:

  • In contrast to the men’s side, we still have multiple undefeated teams in women’s bball. UCLA, LSU and Ohio St.
  • We had 3 ranked matchups on a Wed. Talk about a mid-week pick me up. #4 USC beat Maryland in a close one 79-74. That is the Terps first loss of the season. #9 Ohio St got the better of their rival #24 Michigan. #12 K St crushed #22 Utah who only manged 7 points in the 1Q. they would only tally 47 points all game.
  • #18 Alabama played terribly in their game against #5 Texas. They wouldn’t get double digits in 3Qs to lose by 44! #6 LSU narrowly beat #16 Tenneessee in a close one! Vtech managed to get a 2OT win over #13 Georgia Tech in a high scoring game 105-94. The rivalry game of #14 Duke/ #19 UNC also went to OT. The Tar Heels would win this one 53-46. #24 Cal upset #21 NC St by 7. Also that same day (Thurs) #23 Iowa lost to Illinois and #10 Oklahoma lost to Miss St. Not a good week for the Sooners Hoops team.
  • Sunday had a lot of ranked teams in action (16) but not a lot of losses. #2 SC handed #5 Texas their first SEC loss of the season by 17. Of the other games, no ranked matchups and only 2 unranked upsets (#23 Iowa – they will likely be unranked after this week and #13 GT).

Football-NCAAF:

  • In the first CFP Semi: The overall record between Penn St and Notre Dame was 9-9-1 so you knew this one would be close! Penn State looked to have serious momentum after the 1H, putting up the first 10 points and the only time ND got on the board was a as time ran out FG. Also QB Riley Leonard went out of the game to get checked for a concussion during the 1H, a scary moment for Irish fans. The backup, Steve Angeli, came in and played well throwing 7-1 competitions. ND scored a TD to tie it up in the 3Q and then the 4Q got crazy! The first 4 drives were ND TD, Penn ST TD, ND threw an INT, Penn St TD, ND TD. So we were tied again at 24 a piece with under 5 min to go. Penn St went 3 & out, ND basically did. So Penn St got the ball back with 38 seconds left on the clock. But then disaster struck for the Nittany Lions. Their QB (who hadn’t played well) threw an INT on their own side of the field. ND would make the 41 yard FG to win with 7 seconds left and that would be the game. It was a fitting way to end for the team who had been last in the regular season kicking game to end on a kick. Penn St didn’t complete a pass to a WR all game – talk about a weak part of their game.

  • In the 2nd CFP Semi: Hope you took the under in this game (51 and the total only ended up being 42). This was a matchup for defenses. There were 8 punts in the 1H alone. This game was back and forth. Texas took the ball down the field on their first drive only to get stuffed on a 4th & 3 from the Ohio St 36. Turn over on downs. Ohio State then took it the length of the field in 10 plays to score. Texas would tie it back up in the final 30 seconds of the half. And TX looked like they were getting comfortable. But a screen pass to RB Henderson on the first play of the Buckeye’s drive and he took it to the house, running 75 yards for a TD to take the lead going into the locker room (longest receiving TD for a RB in CFP history). 14-7 Ohio St. The Buckeyes threw an INT first drive back but TX got no points off of it. Ohio State started to make some costly penalties that lead to dead drives. Then Texas moved the ball well, putting together a great drive to get down the field and tie up the game 14-14. 3 drives later Ohio St returned the favor going 88 yards in an almost 8 min drive in the 4Q. 21-14 OSU. But it was a hard fought TD and Texas looked to have gained some confidence. They took big chuck plays to get to their own side of the field in just 3 plays and the redzone in 6 plays. Texas has not been a good redzone team all year and their troubles continues. They had a 1st & goal from the 2 and another from the 1, the TD looked inevitable at this point. On 4th & goal in the final 2:13 of the game, QB Quinn Ewers gets sacked and fumbles. Ohio State runs it 83 yards for the longest fumble recovery TD in CFP history to pretty much solidify the Buckeyes win! A 14 point swing play. 3 plays and TX would thrown an INT to seal it. Buckeyes advance. One of the big storylines of this game was that the Buckeye who rovered the fumble was Ewers’ roommate when he was at Ohio St (before TX). Ohio St has 4 wins over AP top 5 teams this season (and post).

  • Preview of the natty: So we now know it is #8 Ohio St and #7 Notre Dame on Monday (next) in ATL. ND HC Marcus Freeman is the first Black HC to play in the championship game and he will play his alma mater where he played football in the scarlet and grey. It is fitting that Ohio St was the first team to win the CFP in the 4-team format, can they be the first team to win it in the 12-team format? Ohio St is an 8 point favorite. O/U 45.5. Leonard is cleared to play as he came in for the entire 2H of the Orange Bowl. Ohio St only lost 2xs this year. Once to #1 Oregon (who they then destroyed in the CFP) and once to rival Michigan. Notre Dame had a bad loss too though, remember back to the 2nd week of play when ND lost to Northern Illinois? Yikes but since then the Irish have been perfect beating 4 ranked teams before starting their CFP run. They then beat #10 Indiana, #2 Georgia and of course #6 Penn St. Ohio State has beaten #9 Tennessee, #1 Oregon, easily and of course #5 Texas in the CFP.

  • Carson Beck has transferred to Miami.

Football – NFL:

  • Wild card games: The first Wild Card Game of the weekend was the Chargers vs Texans. The Texans outscored LA 32-6 after the 1Q. Both teams struggled with turnovers with 7 split between the 2. But LA only managed to get into the endzone in the 4Q, the other scores were FGs in 1Q. But even that score the Texans ran back the blocked PAT.

  • The Steelers ran into Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. The Ravens put up the first 21 points before the Steelers would score 2 TDs in the 3rd but that was it. Final score 28-14. Lamar ended this game as the most rushing yards in his career in the post season by a QB with 602 (and counting).

  • The Broncos scored first and then never again. Buffalo put up 28 straight points to crush Denver 31-7.

  • The Packers first play of the entire game was a fumble and that pretty much set the tone of the game for Green Bay. They would have 4 turnovers in this game and a missed 38 yard FG. That led to the Eagles easily handling GB, winning 22-10.

  • The Commanders/Bucs game was the closest on Sunday. We were tied at the end of the 1H at 10 a piece after the Bucs scored a final 10 second TD. We were tied agin in the final 5 minutes of the 4Q when rookie QB Jayden Daniels led his team on a final drive to kick a 37 yard FG. What should’ve been a chip shot, doinked off the right upright and IN!! So the Commanders advance and crush the dreams of Tampa Bay.

  • The Pats have hired Mike Vrabel to be their 16th HC. Vrabel played for the Pats when he was still a player in the NFL and a Super Bowl champion with them.

Golf:

  • Nick Taylor chipped in a clutch Eagle on the final hole to finish -16 for the tournament which played him into a playoff for the win. He then nearly chipped in another in the 1st playoff hole but they move to the 2nd playoff hole where he would beat Nico Echavarria with a bridie. He has now won his last 3 tournaments in extra holes. This was also the 6th playoff in the last 10 tournaments at the Sony Open. Other notable stories from the Sony, Paul Peterson shot an opening 64 to share the lead in his debut PGA Tour tournament. He would only be one off the lead going into the weekend. he would finish T10.

  • The TGL debuted on Tuesday. This is the indoor league started by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods in a live stadium setting. The inaugural ‘tournament’ was won by Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry (the Bay Golf Club) who took down NYGC team of Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffle. The format is 6 teams playing in 15 regular season matches. The debut drew in almost a million views (more than any LIV tournament and more than the opening round of the PGA tour season opener – Sentry round 1). The whole match took just 2 hours for 15 holes where Bay GC beat NY 9-2.

Olympic Sports:

  • Lindsay Vonn is getting back into the swing of things. In just her 2nd race, Vonn finished 6th in the downhill in AUT. She was fastest on the first part of the course before losing .57 to the leader ITA Brignone. On Sunday, Vonn raced again and again improved her finish. She would take 4th in the Super G. The winner was an up-and-coming American Lauren Macuga who is 22 and rising up the leaderboards this season. She won by a huge .68 seconds over the 2nd place finisher!
  • HUN swimmer Katinka Hosszu has officially retired. She has spanned 5 Olympic games and is a 3x Olympic gold medalist (mostly in the IM and 100m Back). She started when she was 15 years old in the 2004 Athens games. She is known as the ‘Iron Lady’ but you might remember her coach (and then time husband) who was very animated on the side of the pool cheering her on.

Tennis:

  • The Australian Open started yesterday! On the women’s side, Sabelenka won 30 of last 31 sets played at the Australian Open. USA Pegula and Gauff won their opening matches as well. On the men’s side, Taifoe won opening round in 4 hours. 10xs AO championship, Novak Djokovic has a new face on his team, Andy Murray is his coach now after Murray retired.

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

  • Tues 1/14
    • Cavs at Pacers @ 6pm on TNT
    • Nuggets at Mavs @ 8:30pm on TNT
  • Wed 1/15
    • Knicks at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
    • Heat at Lakers @ 9pm on ESPN
  • Thurs 1/16
    • Cavs at Thunder @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • Rockets at Kings @ 9pm on TNT
  • Fri 1/17
    • Magic at Celtics @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Grizzlies at Spurs @ 8:30pm on ESPN

NCAAM: (only ranked teams and on normal TV)

  • Mon 1/13
    • 22. UCLA at Rutgers @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • Tues 1/14
    • 14. Mississippi St at 2. Auburn @ 6pm on SEC
    • 23. Ole Miss at 5. Alabama @ 6pm on ESPNU
    • 10. Texas A&M at 6. Kentucky @ 6pm on ESPN2
    • 7. Marquette at DePaul @ 6pm on CBSSN
    • 13. Illinois at Indiana @ 6pm on Peacock
    • Miami at 4. Duke @ 8pm on ESPN
    • Mizzou at 8. Florida @ 8pm on ESPNU
  • Wed 1/15
    • 11. Kansas at 3. Iowa St @ 6pm on ESPN2
    • Penn St at 16. Michigan St @ 6:30pm on BTN
    • Georgia at 1. Tennessee @ 7pm on SEC
    • 21. West Virginia at 12. Houston @ 7pm on ESPN+
    • 20. Purdue at Washington @ 8:30pm on BTN
    • Texas at 17. Oklahoma @ 9pm on SEC
    • 25. Utah at UNLV @ 10pm on CBSSN
  • Thurs 1/16
    • 19. Memphis at Temple @ 6pm on ESPN2
    • 24. Michigan at Minnesota @ 6pm on FS1
    • 18. Gonzaga at Oregon St @ 10pm on CBSSN
  • Fri 1/17
    • Iowa at 22. UCLA @ 8pm on FS1
  • Sat 1/18
    • 4. Duke at Boston College @ TBD
    • Texas at 8. Florida @ TBD
    • 5. Alabama at 6. Kentucky @ 11am on ESPN
    • Creighton at 9. UConn @ 11am on FOX
    • 12. Houston at UCF @ 11am on CBSSN
    • 2. Auburn at Georgia @ 12pm on SEC
    • K St at 11. Kansas @ 12pm on CBS
    • Xavier at 7. Marquette @ 1pm on FOX
    • 20. Purdue at 15. Oregon @ 2pm on NBC
    • 1. Tennessee at Vanderbilt @ 2:30pm on SEC
    • South Carolina at 17. Oklahoma @ 3pm
    • 3. Iowa St at 21. West Virginia @ 4pm on ESPN+
    • 23. Ole Miss at 14. Mississippi St @ 5pm
    • LSU at 10. Texas A&M @ 7:30pm on SEC
    • Santa Clara at 18. Gonzaga @ 8pm on ESPN+
  • Sun 1/19
    • 13. Illinois at 16. Michigan St @ 11am on CBS
    • Northwestern at 24. Michigan @ 1pm on BTN

NCAAW: (ranked on TV only)

  • Mon 1/13
    • Vanderbilt at 5. LSU @ 6pm on SEC
  • Tues 1/14
    • 24. Minnesota at 8. Maryland @ 6pm on BTN
  • Thurs 1/16
    • 17. GT at 3. Notre Dame @ 5pm on ACC
    • 2. South Carolina at 19. Alabama @ 6pm on SEC+
    • Mississippi St at 15. Tennessee @ 6pm on SEC
    • Nebraska at 21. NC St @ 6pm on BTN
    • 18. Cal at 16. Duke @ 7pm on ACC
    • 9. Ohio St at Wisconsin @ 8pm on peacock
    • Florida at Ole Miss @ 8pm on SEC
  • Fri 1/17
    • 23. Utah at 10. TCU @ 6:30pm on ESPN+
  • Sat 1/18
    • Rutgers at Michigan @ 11am on BTN
    • Purdue at Washington @ 4pm on BTN
  • Sun 1/19
    • 4. USC at Indiana @ TBD on NBC
    • 5. LSU at Florida @ 12pm on SEC
    • 14. UNC at Pitt @ 1pm on ACC
    • UVA at 21. NC St @ 1pm on CW
    • 13. Oklahoma at 2. South Carolina @ 2pm on TBD
    • Ole Miss at Miss St @ 2pm on SEC
    • Louisville at Vtech @ 3pm on ACC
    • Wyoming at UNLA @ 4pm on CBSSN
    • 19. Alabama at Arkansas @ 4pm on SEC
    • SMU at 3. Notre Dame @ 5pm on ACC

Football – NCAAF:

Bowl Game Schedule

  • Mon 1/20
    • National Championship: 8. Ohio St vs 7. Notre Dame @ 6:30pm on ESPN

Football – NFL:

  • Sat 1/18
    • AFC: Texans at Chiefs @ 3:30pm on ESPN & ABC
      • KC -7.5
    • NFC: Commanders at Lions @ 7pm on FOX
      • DET -8.5
  • Sun 1/19
    • NFC: TBD at Eagles @ 2pm on NBC
    • AFC: Ravens at Bills @ 5:30pm on CBS
      • BAL -1

Golf:

  • Thurs 1/16
    • Amex – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • Fri 1/17
    • Amex – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • Sat 1/18
    • Amex – Round 3 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • Sun 1/19
    • Amex – Final Round @ 3pm on Golf Channel

Hockey:

  • Tues 1/14
    • Panthers at Devils @ 6:30pm on hulu
  • Wed 1/15
    • Hurricanes at Sabres @ 5pm on TNT
    • Oilers at Wild @ 7:30pm on TNT
  • Thurs 1/16
    • Red Wings at Panthers @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Oilers at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

  • Tues 1/14
    • Skiing: FIS W Slalom @ 11:45am on Peacock
  • Fri 1/17
    • Gymnastics: NCAAW – #7 Arkansas vs #20 Auburn @ 6pm on SEC
    • Gymnastics: NCAAW – #4 Florida vs #1 LSU @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
    • Gymnastics: NCAAW – #11 Mizzou vs #6 Oklahoma @ 7:30pm on SEC
  • Sun 1/19
    • Volleyball: PVF Grand Rapids Rise vs Atlanta Vibe @ 5pm on FS1

Soccer:

  • Tues 1/14
    • Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool @ 2pm on USA
  • Wed 1/15
    • Premier League: Everton vs Ashton Villa @ 1:30pm on USA
  • Thurs 1/16
    • Premier League: ManU vs Southampton @ 2pm on USA
  • Sat 1/18
    • Premier League: NewcastleU vs Bournemouth @ 6:30am on USA
    • Premier League: West ham vs Crystal palace @ 9am on USA
  • Sun 1/19
    • Premier League: Everton vs Tottenham @ 8am on USA
    • Premier League: Ipswich Twon vs Manchester City @ 10:30am on USA

Tennis:

  • Mon 1/13
    • Australian Open – Round 1
      • @ 10am on ESPN@
      • @ 10:15pm on ESPN2
  • Tues 1/14
    • Australian Open – Round 1 @ 2am on ESPN2
    • Australian Open – Round 2 @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Wed 1/15
    • Australian Open – Round 2
      • @ 2am on ESPN2
      • @ 11am on ESPN2
      • @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Thurs 1/16
    • Australian Open – Round 2 @ 2am on ESPN2
    • Australian Open – Round 3 @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Fri 1/17
    • Australian Open – Round 3
      • @ 2am on ESPN2
      • @ 9am on ESPN2
      • @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Sat 1/18
    • Australian Open – Round 3
      • @ 2am on ESPN2
      • @ 6am on ESPN2
    • Australian Open – Round of 16 @ 7pm on ESPN2
  • Sun 1/19
    • Australian Open – Round of 16
      • @ 2am on ESPN
      • @ 6am on ESPN2
      • Highlights @ 3pm on ABC
      • @ 7:30pm on ESPN2

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